School

41 pages

6 m, 6 w, 10-16 flexible, doubling possible

Senior class president Todd is looking forward to the class trip to France…at least he thinks he is. His prim girlfriend, Dailyn, has been planning it for years. At the last minute, Principal Kinkade has another idea. She manipulates Todd into suggesting the remote luxurious island of Jooba Gumba Wondy. With the lure of nightlife, sand, and paradise, Kasey, Lindsey, Duncan and Jared are quick to agree. When they all arrive, however, they find that it’s anything but a five-star resort! On a hunting expedition to find breakfast, the teens are separated, attacke...

75 pages

6 m, 8 w, extras

This rousing pirate's tale is set in the strangest and most mysterious of places: junior high! When a young girl named Jenny Taylor (JT) stumbles across a magical book in the school library, she is transported into the past and finds herself on a tropical island surrounded by pirates! She manages to travel back to her own time, but the meddling and boisterous swashbucklers follow along. Talk about fish out of water! Now, on top of homework and bullies, JT has a bunch of buccaneers to take care of! At lunch, in history class, (where their take on the Pilgrims ...

71 pages

7 m, 9 w, 25 flexible, doubling possible

Adapted from the stories by Rudyard KiplingHere's an energetic dramatization of the classic tale of Mowgli, the man-cub, who was abandoned as a baby in the jungle and raised by wolves. With Baloo, the bear, and Bagheera, the panther, as mentors, the growing boy has no trouble avoiding Shere Khan, the tiger, who wants to eat him. But when his two protectors leave him alone in the jungle to test his mettle, Mowgli suddenly finds he's got more trouble than he knows how to handle. The monkeys kidnap him and haul him off to the Forbidden City. Then two hyenas, who...

37 pages

Flexible cast of 10

From the story "Kaa's Hunting" by Rudyard Kipling.  Deep in a jungle in India in the middle of the 19th century a tribe of monkeys come chasing in with the boy Mowgli in their midst. In the middle of their play, Kaa, the great python, terrifies them as well as Baloo, a great bear, and Bagheera, a panther, who are Mowgli's friends and protectors. Once out of harm's way, the two scold the boy and teach him how to make himself safe in the jungle. They fall asleep. The monkeys, eager to get Mowgli to make them huts like his, wake him and drag him off. Baloo and B...

28 pages

4 m, 4 w

Adapted from the short story by Susan Glaspell. A farmer has been found dead and his wife, Minnie, is the prime suspect. The sheriff, a deputy and other men meet at the lonely farmhouse to go over the evidence while two wives gather some clothes and necessities for Minnie, who is in jail. Two neighbor ladies, the Gains sisters, arrive to see what they can learn about the disturbing events of the previous day. As the men go about the business of investigation, the women make a remarkable discovery: the motive for the crime. Set in 1917, three years before wome...

62 pages

8 m, 8 w

Freshman Bobby Hill drinks a potion that turns him from a know-it-all teen into a 25-year old man everyone thinks is the school's new assistant baseball coach. Bobby suddenly finds himself running the team, using an expense account and avoiding the coach's man-hungry daughter. "All I wanted was to play baseball," he whines to Wally, another teen who spends more time on the psychiatrist's couch than behind the plate. During the big tournament, Bobby wants to help the losing Zephyrs win, but it's every man (and boy!) for himself as he ducks newspaper reporters,...

63 pages

2 m, 4 w

Nola goes back to her parents' home after a disagreement with her boyfriend, Quincy, to sort through her problems in peace and quiet. What she finds instead is a circus of confusion. Her mother is dealing with repairs and redecoration of the house; her father refuses to help and escapes to work; and an energetic neighbor helps watch over Aunt Maggie, their somewhat vague relative who recently moved in after possibly poisoning her own cat ... and her late husband. Between the hidden money that turns up missing and Qunicy's arrival and bout with food (?) poison...

66 pages

Flexible cast of 6 to 34

Here's a comedy that takes the audience backstage to witness the worst high school auditions EVER where anything that can go wrong, does go wrong! An overzealous assistant director and a slacker stage manager, along with a wacky group of wannabe actors, are left to cast their senior show themselves. The student assistant director has big aspirations, so big in fact they are convinced the show’s success could be their golden ticket to college...and maybe even Broadway! What follows is a rollicking show full of accidental auditions, movie and pop culture hits r...

73 pages

Minimum cast of 10 plus drama teacher, maximum of 40

Here's a comedy that covers nearly every angle of the typical high school play with a dose of history and improvisation thrown in for good measure! A group of actors, who have apparently been abandoned by their drama teacher, have to fend for themselves opening night in front of a live audience. Their teacher has left them hanging because no one has been showing up to rehearsals and no one is really quite sure what they are supposed to do. The student assistant director and the stage manager step in, find a box of scripts which they pass out to the cast, and ...

71 pages

5 m, 6 w, 18 flexible or with doubling 3 m, 3 w

Snow day! In this collection of hilarious scenes we see how an unexpected day off from school can be an answer to a prayer…or not! Sweethearts Mark and Jessica aren’t feeling very sweet when, after a whole night of decorating the gym, the winter homecoming dance is canceled. Meanwhile, Paul is thrilled to get an invitation from Mary to go sledding, if only his overprotective mother will chill. Then there’s poor Julie – will she ever figure out how to get her tongue unstuck from the frozen flagpole? Woven throughout the many scenes, Trenton, a student, and Mr....

41 pages

1 m, 4 w

Judge Reginald P. Cogsworth, a curmudgeon who hates sweets, is judging a charity bakeoff, albeit grudgingly. Countless entries have been whittled down to three: a tart submitted by Lucy "Scooter" Bright, owner of a nail salon; a Depression-era style cake by Edna Mae Carter, the local librarian; and a rich torte created by Margaret Mason, a local society lady. In the middle of tasting all the goodies, the judge falls dead, and it's up to Miss Peabody, the head of the contest, and the audience to determine the murderer. There are clues in the theatre, some hidd...

42 pages

4 m, 5 w, 10 or more optional

Brian and Sarah are making life miserable for the other students with their constant kidding, everything from switched homework to joy buzzers. Carefree Brian and Sarah apologize with a flippant, "Just kidding," but their jokes are fast becoming not funny. Their science teacher, Mrs. Keller, arranges a little sting operation. It's a beautiful plan created by a master, but little does anyone know the final practical joke is Mrs. Keller's alone! Three self-contained sections of optional dialogue among the class president contenders (the Nerd, the Babe, and the ...

20 pages

2 m, 3 w, 1 boy, 1 girl

Ted and Jane are hosting Ted’s mother and sister for Christmas. As they share memories of their childhood home (acted out live) it becomes clear that their perspectives about the past are very different. An on-going “falling off the ladder” gag adds to the laughs. Finally, Mom presents them each with a DVD featuring their old home movies. As they watch it together, the realization that perhaps they each had things better than they remember brings a lump to the throat and an appreciation for the value of family. Performing groups can be as creative as desired ...

72 pages

From 14 to 26 speaking roles, extras. (5 m, 5 w, 4 flex)

Inspired by the life and works of Rudyard Kipling. Celebrated author Rudyard Kipling is shocked after receiving news that his only son John is missing in action in WW I. Kipling bottles his grief, throwing his focus on a new book. Suddenly he’s interrupted by a mysterious little girl named Priyam. Charmed by her innocence, he shares his famous story “The Jungle Book” with her. As the tale of Mowgli springs to life, Kipling’s own memories of how John became a soldier start to intertwine. As truth blends into fiction, Rudyard’s memories shift to nightmares. He ...

61 pages

Widely flexible cast (14 or more)

Rudyard Kipling's dramatic and entertaining stories about how the Camel got his hump, how the Elephant got his nose, how the Whale got his spout, and other richly woven tales come to life in this engaging musical. Mr. and Mrs. Kipling and their two bubbly yet unpretentious daughters serve as narrators. The story weaves from animal tales to the final human one, how Man--or in this case an enterprising young girl!--wrote the first letter. Especially engaging is the two-person whale which is a great theatrical device. The show opens with the song, "When the Worl...